Packaging of electronic devices in sealed or hermetic enclosures may be necessary to ensure proper operation of the device within a contaminant free environment. However, during device manufacturing and packaging, physical control over a device may be necessary to prevent the device from damage, or to fix a position of the device.
Proper control over the device during fabrication and packaging of device may include the securing and releasing of devices to a structure. For example, a device may be secured to a structure during device manufacturing and packaging to protect the device from physical damage due to stiction. Stiction occurs when surface adhesion forces of small scale devices are more powerful than mechanical restoring forces of the structure. In this case, the device is pulled towards the substrate resulting in failure of the device. With proper control of the device, after packaging, the device is released from the structure for proper operation.
In addition, control over the positioning and orientation of a device within a structure may be required. Also, tuning the mechanical response of a device, such as a resonating device, requires physical control over various locations of the device in order to fix the resonating frequency of the device. Both of these actions may be accomplished through the operation of bimorph actuators. Operation of the actuator can be induced by heating the actuator with current supplied through wire leads. It may be desirable to induce operation of the actuator without the use of current in situations involving sensitive devices, and for reducing the complexity of fabrication, and increasing scalability.
Thus, a need exists for an apparatus and method for releasing a device in a packaged environment. A further need exists for an apparatus which meets the above need and further restricts movement of a device in a packaged environment. Another need exists for an apparatus which meets the above needs and which provides for the tuning of a device in a packaged environment.